A lawyer for Decory Bryant, considered an NFL prospect until he suffered a career-ending neck injury during a UGA football game Oct. 25, 2003, filed the suit in Clarke County Superior Court Friday morning.

In addition to the UGA Athletic Association, the suit names as a defendant former UGA assistant athletic director Hoke Wilder, who was fired by UGA athletic director Damon Evans this summer just weeks after Evans took over the job from Vince Dooley.

Wilder was responsible for turning in paperwork under an NCAA-approved "Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance Program," designed to protect players who could lose their chance at a lucrative pro football contract because of a serious injury, according to the complaint filed by Athens lawyer Hue Henry on behalf of Bryant.

According to the complaint, Bryant asked for the insurance coverage Oct. 23, 2003, two days after he was declared eligible for the NFL draft. On Oct. 23 and 24, Bryant discussed the coverage with Wilder, who mailed incomplete paperwork to the company Oct. 24, according to the complaint.

The insurance company handling the insurance program for UGA, ESIX Entertainment and Sports Insurance Experts, notified UGA Oct. 23, 2003, that Bryant was eligible for $500,000 in coverage for a $5,103 premium.

The NCAA allows universities to lend players the money to cover the premium, but Bryant told Wilder his family would pay it, according to court papers.

But Wilder said Bryant need not worry about it right away, promising to bring the football player some paperwork to sign the next day, Oct. 24, according to Henry's complaint.

Bryant and several other players also were to discuss the insurance with UGA head football coach Mark Richt on Oct. 26, 2003, but that discussion never took place, the complaint states.

Wilder never got Bryant's signature before mailing the paperwork, which the company received too late to ensure coverage, according to the lawsuit.

The company got the letter Oct. 27, 2003, two days after Bryant suffered a career-ending neck injury in a UGA football game in Athens against the University of Alabama-Birmingham, according to the complaint.

Byrant, a cornerback on the football team's defensive squad, was in his final year of eligibility at UGA and had started 25 consecutive games for Georgia at the time of his injury.

Bryant learned from Richt on Nov. 29, 2003, that the company had refused to back-date coverage for the player, and when Byrant said he would hire a lawyer, Richt advised him against it, telling him that the UGA Athletic Association would provide him a lawyer, according to the lawsuit. Richt told Bryant that the athletic association would set up a trust fund for him if no agreement could be worked out with the insurance company, according to the court papers filed Friday.

Bryant's mother tried for several months after her son's injury to contact UGA Athletic Association lawyer Ed Tolley, but did not hear from him until Tolley called to inform her that the insurance company would not cover the injury, the complaint alleges.

Tolley advised her to hire a lawyer whom he would recommend, according to the lawsuit.

Bryant also learned later from Evans, then an associate athletic director, that there would be no trust fund.

In July, Henry wrote to the UGA athletic association, demanding $500,000 - the amount of the insurance coverage Bryant never received, according to the court papers.

Tolley's reply was that Wilder had only promised to find out if coverage was available for the football player, not to actually arrange it, according to the complaint.

Bryant seeks $500,000 in compensatory damages, legal costs, punitive damages to be determined at trial and any other damages the court deems appropriate.

Tolley was out of the office and unavailable for comment Friday. Wilder did not return a message left on his home answering machine, and a call to UGA Athletic Association athletic director Claude Felton was not returned Friday.